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Ocean Liner History and Stories from the Sea, Past and Present. With an In Depth focus on Holland America Line

Category: Europe (page 3 of 10)

Day 12: Dec. 28; At Home, Verdict & Review of the cruise.

December 29, 2025 / / 7 Comments

As usual, at the end of the cruise, I do a review  with our VERY PERSONAL opinion of the cruise. So if you think that Cunard is pure “Hallelujah” please do not be disappointed. If you decide to “snigger” because you do not like Cunard, please take into acccount, there is no perfect cruise company out there. If you look at all the cruises we have done in the last year, (see the write ups at the right hand side of the home page), I was able to shoot holes in each product and at the same time see things that made me go “WOW” why do other company’s not do this.

Cruising is very personal, and the bottom line for a GOOD cruise company is, did THEY deliver what they promised and did YOU enjoy it.

So we come to our personal verdict about this Cunard Cruise.

Did we enjoy the cruise YES. Would we have enjoyed it less in a lesser cabin: ALSO YES.  We had a Q3 suite, that is two steps down from the top and we expected for that level for everything to be top notch and perfect. You have a butler and a cabin steward and they try to do the best job possible. But those two can only deliver the standards set by the company. And Ludmilla and Mark did a very good job within those parameters.

The Glare: As explained when blogging about every cruise we make, this is a little thing I do during a cruise.  Every crewmemember I meet, officers and crew alike, I look them straight in the eyes and wait if they acknowledge me. The results can be quite striking.

Cunard scored only 75%. (e.g. 1 out of 4 did not make the cut). The crew on average scored 100%, no problems there. Even the sailors on deck. were chirpy and friendly and scored 100%. The challenge lies with the Hotel officers. The majority I met in the corridors, the Lido and the public rooms, looked away or did not acknowledge guests when walking by, or when talking to each other.  3 & 4 stripers in Hotel did not make the cut on average. And there is no excuse for that. If a lowly asst. steward can do it, then  a 3 stripe hotel officer should be  able to do it better. I only met two engineering officers this cruise and they were both polite, smiled and one even waited at the door, and they are normally the least customer focused.

Would I recommend a Cunard Cruise. In general yes.

It is a good product  and the only negative thing I hear from other travellers, Cunard thinks it has the most wonderful product but they are slowly overtaken by a whole slew of other operators in the luxury segment.

The are not helping themselves as they send out their post cruise questionaires “ONLY” to a number of “SELECT” guests. That way you never get the raw deal that you need to improve your product.

Main thing is you have to get used to is the system that the cabin -size is connected to a certain restaurant. That is quite posh but the extra’s given are not that wide apart anymore. There is not so much difference (compared to before Covid) between the menu’s between Queens, Princess, Club and Britannia. You just have a little bit more choice when going up from Britannia to Queens. It would not warrant the extra costs, if the larger cabins were not attached to it.

Compliments:

Beautiful ship (if you like  ships in a classical style) with beautiful lounges.

Beautiful cabins, as least on our level, but they should be better maintained. For this level of pricing, there should be nothing wrong.

Very attentive service, at least in the Queens Grill, with only two mistakes made in the whole of the 12 days and without any rushed service.

Very good and large cast company (12 in total), two orchestras (Stage and Queens Lounge) and entertainment everywhere. It resulted in Great Shows. This is a very hard working cast with a show every other night and a one full lenght musical “Come From Away” of 1h. 45 minutes as well. Great Christmas show. (not every company is doing that anymore)

Very good lectures (apart from one guy who was too sloppy in appearance and slissed when talking)

Formal nights (Although unfortunatelly not enforced in the lounges that are designated as formal)

Soft Ice Cream, self service machine in the Lido with the most consistent quality so far encountered during all our cruises.

Self Services Washing Machines on each Deck..

Challenges:

for Cunard to fix ( at least if it wants to anchor  “floating” customers like us):

The biggest one:

” On request”. Why does the guest have to ask for anything that has been paid for?…………………………… You need to have the Cunard web-site listing for your cabin level with you to ensure you get what you paid for.

“On request” ONLY was the following in a Queens Grill Cabin:

Ice in the cabin, Fresh fruit, Fresh flowers / plant . TV program, Binoculars, Instructions of how to operate the DVD player, Instructions for the coffee machine. Extra side dishes in the Queens Grill. The waiters know it is there but do not suggest anything to make the experience more perfect.

Status of the cabin. A lot of items that I found could have been corrected with better – detailed- inspections by Housekeeping. I paid a lot of money for this cabin so I did not expect that as a  guest I would have to start reporting stuff.  Wrong CD player, Glass curtains loose, Toilet seat loose, Plinths broken. Vanity buttons missing on the desk lights. With the help of the Butler and the Concierge it was all fixed but I was not not expecting to find anything wrong in a cabin of such a high catagory.

You can NOT expect the Butler and the Cabin Steward to look after all of this as they are on a very tight working schedule. This is officer and petty officer level responsibility.

Lots of carpet edges (corners and vertical padding) loose in the corridors. I counted 10 of them on deck 8 only on the first day and they were still the same on the last day. How difficult is it, to send a carpenter/Upholsterer  around with a pot of adhesive  to glue the carpets back ??. The carpet edges comes loose with luggage handling, so it happens all the time, make it a standard job for a Housekeeping supervisor to walk the corridors once a week and make a list.

Lido Restaurant. For a 5 star cruise company the amount and variation of food on offer is quite meager. If you are a cruiser who likes and spends a lot of time in the Lido Restaurant, GO or STAY with Holland America.

Internet: It is very good in general, except when the whole ship goes on line, especially on sea days. For mobile phones it all works but with laptops you loose the signal  on average between 10.00 – 11.30 and 14.30 – 16.30 on sea days, at least on Deck 6, midships staircase area. So only devices who use a small bandwidth can get on line. During those hours I can not reach my website / do my blog, as my website needs a bit more bandwith than checking Facebook.

One word of advise: If you want to sail Cunard, stay away from Queen Anne and choose one of the other 3 Queens.

The Queen Anne is a beautiful ship but Cunard has put the capacity up to 2950 and not increased the number of public rooms to handle these additional 450 guests (compared with the HAL’s Pinnacle class) so the lounges are overflowing during cocktail times.  In an ideal world, the Jewellery shop would be a lot smaller in size and in its place there would be another beautiful Cunard cocktail lounge. Talking to the guests it was mentioned that the cabins are a lot smaller and the storage space varies and is smaller but not in line with the increase in cabin size or cost. We noticed that during our two cruises but it still seems to be the case even after more cabinets were added.

That is all……………………………….  Nuntium ne necaveritis.

ps 1. My Lord and Master has booked another cruise for November 2026, going from Southampton to Zeebrugge, Amsterdam and Cherbourg on the Queen Victoria, as she wants to try the Q2 midships catagory. Q1 is of no interest as those cabins are in the bow and the stern and that is where the  movement is worst during the winter  storms.

ps 2.

It got a request from one faithful reader to explain what “yawning” is or when a ship “yaws”.  So here is a quick summary.

There are 6 ships movements officially recognized:

  • Heaving: vertical movement (the whole ship lifts up)
  • Swaying: transverse movement (lurching from left to right)
  • Surging: longitudinal movement (pushed forward and then settles back)
  • Rolling: longitudinal rotation  (leaning/ listing  from one side to the other)
  • Pitching: transverse rotation ( bow goes up, bow goes down, sometimes slams on the waves)
  • Yawing: vertical rotation (You make a sort of round movement that combines 3 or 4 of the separate movement one)

Some ships are more affected by one or the other movements than others. A ship like the Queen Mary 2, has been designed with a ships length that “rides the average length of the North Atlantic waves” and thus pitches a lot less then a smaller ship. It sort of barges through or over the waves. But without stabelizers in use she would still roll. Also her stern design makes her less prone to surging. But she also “yaws” when she gets the swell 3/4 quarter on the stern.

The  newest cruise ships, that look like a barge with an apartment building on top, “yaw” less because of the “box in the water” design. But in the wrong wave length, they can pitch considerably, so the best thing to do is then either to speed up or slow down so it hits the waves differently. The cruise ships constructed between 2002 and 2014 of which most have similar hulls as the Queen Victoria  tend to be prone to yawning and swaying as the stabelizers have a hard time handling that movement They are gyroscope controlled and that needs a change of horizon (leaning away from the horizontal) and movements other then rolling do not do that.

My personal solution to all these movements is to sit in the bar, recognize the sort of movement that is going on and then insure that my beer glass counteracts that move perfectly and thus does not spill any it’s contents.

 

I pinched this off the internet. A big thank you to FFQQ.com. There is not much difference between a cargo ship and a passengership if both are properly ballasted, so the center of gravity sits in the right place. The only difference is that most cargo ships do not have stabelizers.

 

 

Day 11, 2025 Dec. 27; At Sea, day 3.

December 28, 2025 / / 10 Comments

With the Christmas festivities behind us we are now on the 3rd sea day, on the way home to Southampton. Around lunch time we will pass the most North westerly point of Normany and sail through the Traffic Separation Zone for ships at Ushant. Hence we are seeing more and more ships in the fare distance and sometimes  really nearby. As was expected yesterday the sea is more lively than before.

Weather today around noon time. We are at the edge of the yellow part – waves 3 to 4 meters, but are turning away from it now heading into the English Channel.

A last sea day is always somewhat akward for a lot of cruise passengers. It is the last day and everybody has to pack, or if one is doing a back to back finding the lounges half empty. Thoughts are about going home by half of he ship , while the other half mentally gears up for the next cruise. The Queen Victoria’s next cruise, is a new years cruise 7 days to Zeebrugge, Amsterdam and Cherbourg with docking overnight in Amsterdam for New Year’s Eve so there are quite a few on board who will stay for the next one. Then the next one after that is a 35 day voyage to the Caribbean, a so-called no-flight-cruise as it starts and ends in Southampton. That is twice crossing the North Atlantic but at both times with a route so far to the south that most likely they will be able to avoid most of the bad weather.

We followed the last talk / lecture of the Police Officer talking about Drug enforcement. This is a quite a interesting topic and as he also is a good speaker he can tell interesting anecdotes. It turned out that while defending King & Country in that business, it is not always plain sailing, nor do things always go right, nor is there always a very professionally ending. Hence great anecdotes to tell.

At noon time the Captain made his navigational announcement, ending with a very plastic Cunard Head Office Message, with advising that ONLY a few SELECTED guests would get a post cruise questionaire (I wonder what sort of selection they make ?……………..) and hinting very strongly that if we enjoyed the voyage then that we should give a 10. Normally that sort of thing is left to Cruise Director’s on the stage and thus leave the captain’s dignity in tact.

The shops had another sale going, with extra – extra discount, and either the prices were very good, or there was still a lot of On Board Credit floating around but it was busy with even a tussle between two ladies in the hand bag section.

Quick lunch and then it was time to pack. Luckily we did not buy very much this cruise but why is it always more difficult to get the same quantity as you packed at thome, back in the suitcase when on board?

Then last night we got an invite for another Captain’s party in the Queens Room, but without an explanation about why we were invited; but if there are free drinks and maybe even nibbles, who would say no?  With our invitation card in hand (to be presented at the entrance) we marched towards the Queens Room at 17.15 (start of the party) and found at least a 100 people ahead of us inside (free drinks ??) We bypassed the Captains line and grabbed a drink and watched the proceedings on the dance floor.

Again the officers were lined up around the dancefloor and again they waited for the guests to come over. Some guests did go over but it means  that all those guests who are sitting on the side and in the wings are obviously not entitled to the presence of an officer. One would expect that the officers would be roving the area being the gracious hosts. The party was called the Sr. Officers party, although there were numerous junior officers present, so one would expect that the Officers would make it a point and fan out from the center to chat with all those highrolling guests who have to sit, and who pay their salary. It was never explained to us, why we all were there, but we think that they invited the Queen and Princess Grills and the and Diamond members.

To be honest, this was a bit of a damp squidh affair, although there were canape’s, which were missing from the first party. No speech from the captain but near the end a guy in an off-white suite popped up and made a short speech, which seemed to be the moment that all  the officers were allowed to disappear and they did. He then wished us a good continuation of our party, which had now turned to a Sr. Officer Party, without any officers. The captain was still there, gathering up his wife and 3 children. He saw me and we were thus able to say goodbye and thank him for his hospitality. He said he had been reading my daily blog and agreed with my weather charts. I hope he also agreed with the cabin repairs I enacted.

We decided not to go to the last show as it will be an early morning tomorrow and we had to pack the final items to make sure that all suitcases had the same weight. Weather in Southampton tomorrow calls for partly cloudy skies, with a temperature of 7oC but with a windchill factor that might bring it down to 5 or 4oC. But as long as I do not have to de-ice the car windows, I am already a happy camper.

This is the one but last blog of the cruise. On Monday, my “Final Verdict & Review”, will follow.  However with coming back to Southampton this 12 day cruise will have ended.  Our next cruise will be in February 2026 with Viking Cruises, so I hope that you will be following us again.

In the mean time: A very happy New Year and  Lesley and I wish you all a prosperous, healty and peaceful 2026.

 

 

Day 10, 2025 Dec. 26; At Sea. Day 2.

December 27, 2025 / / 3 Comments

This morning we woke up to a slighty moving ship with a movement that a sailor calls “gentle” but a landlubber calls “annoying”. But the weather chart stays positive and the Bay of Biscay and surroundings remained very gentle, or -blue- on the chart.  So happy campers all around today.

Weather / sea forecast for today.

This is our second day at sea since leaving the Canaries Islands. 2nd Day of Christmas, called Boxing Day, as in England that used to be the official day of opening the “boxes” with the presents. Most of the crew finds this very funny as in their cultures they open their presents during Christmas Eve. So the joke of the day was, “have you been boxing ?”

As a reference to last night for those who do not know what Christmas “crackers” are. These are paper tubes and you pull at each side, with the person opposite to you at the dinner table. They then come apart with a “crack”.. Inside there is a paper crown (referring to the 3 kings of bethlehem) and the idea is to wear them during the christmas dinner. Inside is also a present, the quality depending on how expensive the cracker is. We had a honey stick, a wooden stirrer to get the last honey out of a honey pot & and a small steel cake form to make christmas cookies. Then there is the (rather naff) Christmas joke. “What sort of nut can you use to hang something on the wall ?……………. a wall-nut.

After breakfast we went for a walk-a-bout and ended up with a Q&A interview from the Cruise Director with our Lady Orchestra Conductor. Which was interesting to listen to as not many of us really know what goes on inside an orchestra. Unfortunately, no “juicy” anecdotes to liven it all up, but still very interesting. One could see that she is a real conductor and not an entertainer.

We made it early to lunch to day as we were sort of pressed for time as at 13.30 hrs. we had the 4th. and last recital of Robin Colville the piano player and we did not want to miss that. After that there was a full 1h.45 min. musical show in the Theatre at 16.00 hrs. which Lesley did not want to miss. I never know if my “cultural time span” can last that long, so we investigated first if we could find some places to sit, where she had a good view and I could slip away if to all got too much.

The Maestro explaining his first piece and on the balcony two saiors (the dark shapes in the corner under the saffolding) tying up the steps. Life is never dull on a cruise ship.

The piano recital was very good as usual but as it had been pushed to 13.30 it sort of interfered with the ships routine. While the Maestro was explaining the background of his first piece, above him on the balcony, suddenly “swish-swish’ could be heard caused by two sailors securing a scalfolding with pulling ropes through. Luckily they saw the light and did not start working, while below Griegs Solveits Song burst out of the piano. Then half way through the concert a steward came by with a trolley with rattling crockery. He had to go in the pantry in the back to prepare for English High Tea at 15.00 hrs. After the plates had been transfered to their locker, he switched on the pantry light (luckily there was a pole between the pantry and the stage so the performance was not affected). And then he switched on the heating cabinet (I think for warming up the teapots). Now all of us in the back could listen to Griegs First Piano Concerto accompanied by electric humming from a pantry. This was most likely a worlds first: ” Variations on Grieg’s Piano Concert no.1 by a Heating Cabinet”. ……….. I love to be part of World First premieres…………………………….

After the concert we walked past the shops and suddenly they were busy. This occurence happens near the end of the cruise and is called “The On Board Credit Effect”. If you got spending credit with your cruise and have not spent it, then now is the chance. The shops responded accordingly with 15% extra discount on certain items. We have run out of on board credit already, courtesy of cocktails every evening and the daily internet cost, so my bank account will take another hit when we leave the ship.

For the latter we got the luggage tags today. Cunard has the system that you have to pull off the old tags and then you get new ones and hence new ones were delivered. There are also companies who tell you to leave the tags on, as it incorporates the disembarkation color. Disembarkation time depends on what sort of cabin you have, or if you are independent or have scheduled transport. With our cabin level we can leave at any time, so we will aim for 08.03 off the ship, with the taxi waiting to take us back to the hotel at 09.00 to collect the car. Then I hope to be on the way by 10.am as it is a 5 hr. drive home, plus stopping for petrol and groceries.

The poster being used in the UK for this musical

Today we had a special cast / stage performance of a musical/play called “Come from Away”, telling the story of the little Newfoundland town of Gander that suddenly had to host 7000 air plane passengers when the USA closed its airspace when 9/11 occured. Doubling the size of the town when a large number of planes deviated to their old airport. The whole effort lasted1h.45m, and there was a full house. One at 16.00 hrs. and one at 20.00 hrs. And it was really, really good, with  a well deserved standing ovation at the end.

This picture comes from a website advertising the musical in the UK. There is a scene in there, “Kiss the Fish”, which is a tongue in cheek ceremony to become a “NewFoundlander’.  The town of Gander granted “membership” to all stranded passengers who were there and agreed to “kiss the fish”.

According to those who had seen the performance in London with “real professionals” and paid a high ticket price for the privilige, advised that this one here on board was soo much better. And I am not amazed as with the plethora of (large) cruise ships out there, the stage shows and its actors are getting better every year as the supporting teams behind them are getting more and more professional and better financed. Again no photos from the show itself, as somebody will  get upset when you do so……………..

Then it was cocktail time and we met Pamela Curtis. This was the Lady who was the highest repeater this cruise with 1250+ days. I posted the photo on day 3 when she got the flowers during the Captains Loyalty party. That photo was seen by my blog readers in Los Angeles, who then contacted Mrs. Curtis to let her know that she was now world famous. She then contacted me to meet for a  drink and a chat. Hence tonight. This is for my readers in Los Angeles.

Cocktail Time in the Commodore Club with the highest day repeater on board,

Tomorrow is our 3rd sea day, passing the coast of Normandy and then entering the outer reaches of the English Channel (or La Manche in French, as we are on the French side). Looking at the weather chart and knowing the way a Vista Class ship behaves, I think we will get some more movement. Not really rolling or pitching but more of the yawning movement that we also had south bound. It should not affect anybody very much as we all had enough training southbound.

Day 8, 2025 Dec. 24; Arrecife de Lanzarote, Spain.

December 25, 2025 / / 7 Comments

Christmas is coming.

The more south we go, the less swell there is, and apart from an occasional bump, the ship sailed quietly through the night. Ending up at Arrecife harbor by 07.30 in the morning. With us again the ms Ventura and we were joined later by the Mariella Explorer, sailing for TUI. The Ventura was at what they would call here the cruise ship pier as it is the closest pier to town. Tui is sometimes doing change over’s here but uses the end of the sea wall, where they have a large marque for handling guests and luggage. We were at the same pier but slighlty further in.

Today the marquee which acts as a cruise terminal  was in use for screening the returning guests of both the Mariella and the Victoria.  The harbour is a considerable distance from the town of Arrecife and hence there was a shuttle service available to reduce the 30 minute walk to an 10 minute bus ride.  The Ventura guests did not have a shuttle as they only had a 15 minute walk from their ship directly into town.  The shuttle ran very frequently (waiting time limited to loading time) and dropped everybody off at “The Marina”. From here it was another 8 minute walk to the boulevard where the first restaurants, bars and small hotels were located. From there, walking alone the waterfront, it was another 5 minutes to the main shopping street. “The Marina” turned out to be made up of bars and restaurants, (and a Burger King)  and a few souniver shops. There was a small Arts & Crafts market outside so those for whom it was too far to walk into town, could still do some shopping thearapy.

The shuttlebus transfer is charged at $ 10,– a person, but is included for Queens and Passenger Grill guests and those on full fares. They scan your cruise card when boarding the coach and, if applicable, the $ 10,– gets charged to your account. It works the same way for the crew, who travel free of course,  and the “Traffic Controllers”, who control the guest flow to the coaches, shove a few crew onto each coach. That is something I can always appreciate as crew cannot always wait until “all the guests are gone” as they simply do not have the time. Not that many crew went ashore, the distance & time is simply too much if you only have a few hours off. Those who went, ended up in a super market again (same chain as yesterday) to stack up with whatever a crew member needs.

The ground cut open for further development. No sand, no flowers no greenery, apart from some mosses. Barren as far as the eye can see,

Drving into town, is basically driving over an asfalt road  with on either side lava as Lanzarote is a volcanic island that only recently (million years ago or so) became extinct. Long time ago I did a tour around the island which was facinating and beautiful as long as “stark” is what you like. What I remember mostly is how hot it was, so when in later years I could see more lava and rocks in Iceland with a much more gentle temperature, it shifted my focus point somewhat. But today (cold for local standards as all the old locals had thick coats or vests on) it was a perfect day to take the tour. But we went into town.

In case you wonder what Santa drives in Spain ? It is not a sleigh, it is a VW bus.

At the entrance to the town was a christmas fancy-fair, similar to the one we saw yesterday in Las Palmas. I wonder if that is a sort of Christmas tradition they have one in each port during the festive season on the Islands. Fully focussed on the younger clientele of course, but a Ferris Wheel and Bumper cars also get adults excited. It was still closed but it might have opened up around 17.00 hrs. as that happened at Las Palmas last night. The little pubs & terraces were by 11.00 hrs. already full with eager clientele and it was interesting to see that the menu’s were in Spanish, then German and only occasionally in English or French.

The main shopping street, at a quiet moment. This was lunch time so all the tourists had moved on to the pubs and restaurants.

The main street was a very nice and clean shopping street, full with christmas decorations so it seemed that here, they kept restaurants and pubs outside of the main street environment. I do not know how it works retail wise but for the flow of traffic (several 1000 cruise guests marching in and out) it worked very well.

The main view when coming off the shuttlebus. All that is white are small hotels with restaurants and bars under it. German is more widely spoken here than English.

We were back by 13.00 hrs. and decided on lunch in the Lido Restaurant as they had Spaghetti Bolognaise on the menu, cooked A-la-minute and that is something even a Queens Grill Chef cannot beat.  Disappointing was that the soft ice machine was for 50% out of order and the other one was in ” cleaning mode”  and thus lunch did not have a perfect ending. Hopefully they have a technician who will understand the “grave emergency” of getting this repaired ASAP, otherwise I will get withdrawal symptoms.

The Queen Victoria Officers Choir on the Atrium staircase. One of the cast members was conductiong and also leading the rehearsals of the Guest Choir on the ship. I did not recognize many of the officers but the gentleman in black on the top left of the photo is our Maitre d’Hotel of the Queens Grill.

The ship is gearing up for Christmas and that started today, more christmassy tables started to show up with candy houses, we now also have one opposite the Grills Bar, and the officers and crew are walking around with santa claus hats.

Latest edition to the christmas displays. The square thing in the right hand corner is a traditional Christmas Cake. which is a very dense cake, so you only get/take a small sliver and then eat it with very thick cream. 

Tonight at 17.00 and 19.00 hrs. there was the christmas choir performance of the officers of the Victoria but at 17.00 hrs, it was solely made up of Hotel Officers as Deck and Engine were still on full standby as we also sailed at 17.00 hrs.  At 18.15 hrs. there was storytime, read out by the Captain.

The rest of the evening had the same program as normal with the exemption of: at 23.30 there was the Christmas Eve service for protestants in the Queens Lounge with a Reverend and at the same time  the Roman Catholic service in the Royal Court Theatre with a priest in attendance. For the Jewish, the Channukah candles were lit at the entrance of each restaurant and the Pursers desk (last candle, last night) but I do  not know if we have a Rabbi on board this cruise as well.

When I was Captain in the past I always encouraged it, when all three were on board, with the request if they could not do something together especially for the crew. One year, the 3 of them  organised  a-get-together with the crew and announced themselves on the posters as : “The Holy Trinity” . Inviting all  Officers and Crew for a service without boundaries in the Crew Mess”.  That was such a success that it was repeated a day later upstairs on request of the guests , when they found out about it from the crew.  It did not always work as sometimes some of them were too rigid in their convictions but when it did it was always a great success. Even groups of the muslim community showed up.  I think the first year it worked was, when the protestant representative was  a Vicar of the British Seamans mission, “The Flying Angels” and they are known not to take things too seriously, most of them being ex sailors themselves.

The main show was focussed on Christmas as well, with a Cast performance called “Deck the Halls” with christmas songs made popular by various artists.  In the Queens Lounge the regular dancing was going on (every night by orchestra or recorded music for squence dancing) but tonight the two singers and orchestra had everybody ball room dancing to christmas tunes.

Back in the cabin. we found a Christmas card from the company, two Christmas “crackers” with chocolates and two baubles to hang on the christmas tree at home.

From Lesley and I:

Merry Christmas to all my readers and we hope that all your christmasses will be as bright as the star of bethlehem.

As you can see below, Santa Claus would prefer to be somewhere else at Christmas.

For Santa Claus himself though not all his own wishes are coming true……………………………………

 

 

 

 

Day 3, 2025 Dec. 19: Lisbon, Portugal.

December 20, 2025 / / 1 Comment

Happily docked alongside for the night, everybody on board had a nice and quiet night and as a result there were a lot more smiling faces in the morning, than the day before. The local authorities indeed keep to the regular cruise schedule and by 8 am. the ship was cleared and a steady stream of guests went ashore to invade Lisbon. It was still chilly as it had just stopped raining but by 10 am. the sun came out and the world warmed up to a balmy 15oC / 59oC.   The Alcantara cruise terminal can handle  2 very big cruise ships or 3 mid size ones but we were the only cruise ship in port. Although not completly correct, as laid up half a mile to the north was the ms Funchal, This is an old passenger ship built in the days that ships still kept a regular connection from Lisbon with the outer islands like Madeira. Then she was used for cruising, by a whole slew of different owners and has laid up since 2023. There seem to be plans to convert her to a hotel but not much progress has been reported.

The cruise terminal is about a 10 minute walk away from downtown, hence there was no shuttle. Cunard had made available an ADA shuttle for guests with special needs. For those who did not want to walk all the way, the Big Red -Hop on Hop off- Bus has a stop right across from the entrance and that is a good way to get a first impression of the City, if you have never been there.  Big boss and I have been to Lisbon many a time, (start counting  in 1981) so we decided to stay on board and have a good look around the ship.

Cunard’s Employee of the Month. (Sr. Machinist). Under the White Star training and excellence system. Cunard’s crew training  system is a bit more elaborate than with other company’s as it encompasses training and  good service in one system. Each crewmember gets dedicated training for this (and wears a pin when passed), while at other company;s it is often learning on the job with a bit of tuition on the side. How long the training remains engrained in a crewmember I do not know, as I saw already several officers walking around with their hands in the pockets. But I like the idea of having a more dedicated – formalized school – approach to quality.

I received a few comments about my remarks about the tipping situation at Cunard.  Here a little explanation. Cunard does not included tipping/gratuities in the cruise price. This company adds the tipping charge – gratuity- to your on board account during the first night. If you have it, you can use your on board credit for paying it. The gratuities are $ 17 for the regular cabins and $ 19 for the Princess and Queens Grill cabins, per guest, per day.  The daily amounts are quite considerable  and many guests reduce them to a level they find reasonable or take it off completely. But, and this is the nasty bit, you can only do this on embarkation day, hence long lines at the Pursers Desk after embarkation.

In the United Kingdom, same as in the Netherlands and Germany, you only tip for extra ordinary service that goes beyond what can be expected. Plus these are nationalities who do not like to be told how much one should “give” somebody.  You want to decide yourself if that somebody is worth the extra money. For regular pub or restaurant visits when ashore in those countries, you do not tip as everybody is paid at the minimum a normal daily wage. (This might be different in the USA where waiters seem to rely on tips to make a decent living)

Each crewmember, working for a mainstream company,  earns a decent wage, as stipulated by the ITF, (International Transport Federation) that regulates a minumum of seafarer’s wages. Then most companies have a top – up point system for each function. The gratuities that you pay EXTRA above your ticket price are divided according to that point system. All Hotel crew are included,  except Bar and Wait staff as they have the service charge on each drink (15%). Also Deck and engine crew (sailors, machinists) are excluded as they have a higher basic wage. Same goes for the Officers, they are on a different pay scale. If the gratutities paid by the guests do not reach the 60% of what should come in (e.g.  the 100%y when nobody would have taken off the gratutities), then the company makes up the difference until it gets to 60%.  If more than 60% is received then the point system kicks in. Crewmembers who receive tip directly from guests are supposed to turn those in, and are added into the point system pool. If that happens, I do not know.

Most guests that I know off, reduce their gratuities with a certain amount and then give the rest directly to the crewmembers who serve them.   Therefore more and more companies are turning to  “Tips fully Included”  under a “Have it All” system, or a variation of that. This is the system that I prefer as it works very well as long as the guests do not start tipping extra on the side and thus create preferential treatment.

That happened to us on the Silver Spirit (see write up on this website) where everything is (officially) included; but a few “high rollers” still tipped considerably with the result that the bulter for the cabin section shifted his focus towards those few cabins. In our personal situation, the butler had to offer to help with packing but we never saw him and later realized that he was suspiciously “present” for prelonged times near 2 cabins  occupied by a group of VERY well heeled New Yorkers.

There is no perfect solution to this tipping problem but I have found with all the cruises, with different company’s, that we have made in past period, that “All Included” or “Have it All” works the best. Both for the guests as well as for the crewmember. it takes all the worries away and gives peace of mind. At least for us. I hope this helps.

Deck 9 outside. Hamburger Bar, but there are also Hot dogs and vegetarian options on the menu.

Thus we went on a walkabout of the ship. With everybody supposed to be going ashore, we were expecting that the ship would be nearly empty. This was not the case. We have a rather advanced age group on board, expecially in the dearer cabins, so there were still many on board. I might have to get up very early one day,  to catch some of the lounges empty to get a good photo. As the Q.V is a HAL Signature ship, it has the same lay-out on the outside but the interior is fitted out differently according to the needs of he Cunard Product.

The Aft deck with the outdoor pool has on the portside a Hamburger kitchen and on the Starboard side a deck bar. The  hamburgers & related are included; while if you order a hamburger in the Golden Lion or via Room service where you have to pay for it (US $ 11,–). Although free for the grill suites. Today was too cold but in the coming days, we will certainly try .

This is the  aft section of the Lido on the portside and this area is  especially kitted out for Breakfast. (See the two toast machines in the foreground as no real British person will ever contemplate breakfast without toast)

The Lido space is identical as on other Vista Class ships but the lay-out is different. Port and starboard side are identical but split into 3 sections. The centre section on both sides has more separated seating areas and can thus double up as a speciality Restaurant. Which happens here. Half the cruise it is a “Bamboo” restaurant with Asian Fusion and during the 2nd half it is called “La Plaza” and transforms into an Italian Restaurant. The cover charge for both is $ US 15,–

The Winter Garden as seen from the Bar area.

Forward of the Lido Restaurant is the Wintergarden with an overdecked bar, sitting area and music stage under a retractable magrodome. This is where Cunard tries to concentrate guests who do not want to dress up, nor want go to the Golden Lion Pub. There is entertainment at lunch time and in the evening, varying from Irish Music to a Duo but also Disco.  As can be seen from the photo, it is very much favoured by the older crowd for reading as the chairs are very comfortable and the Lido Restaurant is very close by for coffee and nibbles.

Going further forward is the midships swimming pool and in front of that the Ocean Spa. This Spa is operated by the Steiner Cooperation, same as with Holland America, but is called “Mareel” to make it sound more posh. For the rest it is the same, including the prices which are not for the faint hearted. My wife has already learned that if she approaches me about going to the Spa, it works a lot better if I have had a few drinks and feel a bit more philosofical.

One deck up, overlooking the pool area, and behind the Cormmodore Club (Crowsnest / Onbservatory), is the Yacht Club.  This is a circular lounge with a band stand and a bar and is used during day time as a multipurpose room (meetings, choir rehearsals etc.) and in the evening as a Disco and/or Jazz club if there is live music.  We both have very good ears so for us it is not the place to be in the evening. But on shorter cruises it is full every evening. On a cruise like this, it would be an excellent place to show off all the versions of wheel chairs, rollators, buggy’s and other “special needs” adds on board; it would attract a lot of interest.

We had cocktails in the Commodore Club again as the piano player is very good and engaging, followed by dinner in the Queens Grill. We had pre-ordered at lunch time Dover Sole and this was served to perfection by the Head Waiter.  Tomorrow we will be at sea again and the ship will still be lively while going south but by late afternoon the movement should start to diminish, with rainy and sunny spells.

Cunard is investing a lot in christmas decoration and it shows. This is the lower Atrium and it looks very christmassy. Late this evening there was a classical trio of three Ukranian Ladies playing Christmas music and it brought a nice atmosphere to what can otherwise be quite a cavernous area.

 

 

 

 

 

Day 2, 2025 Dec. 18: At Sea.

December 19, 2025 / / 7 Comments

We had indeed a bumpy night, with the ship being “attacked” with swell from 2 sides, creating a sort of swaying movement (the official name is yawning) that no stabelizer can correct. But in the course of the morning the wind started to subside and went down to about 35 knots and the North West swell eased off somewhat.

Our course is the red line and you can see that we started in the purple. That is 55 knots of wind.  The light green is about 20 knots. (Courtesy of the British Royal Meterlology Service. at Bracknell)

After breakfast again served by our butler, the ever efficient Ludmilla, we went out to to tell the concierge that the DVD player still had not been fixed. She was convinced that it was, as “the electrician” had been to visit. Obviously she had not absorbed anything of what I told her yesterday. So her phone came out again and  she was going to phone the Butler again. I stopped her and reminded her of what happened yesterday. Then we went back to the cabin to find Ludmilla , who had a solution. From somewhere she had conjured up a “new” DVD player but now with a 110 volt lead that fitted safely in the wall socket. Problem solved and kudo’s to Ludmilla. I will write her a commendation via the “White Star service” recommendation card system.

So what is the morale of this story: if you get flustrated with how long it takes sometimes to get something in the cabin repaired…… this might be why?  This is not just Cunard, it is similar for all companies. Our DVD player repair request went via Ludmilla who speaks -Columbian- English -, to the concierge who speaks -Bosnian- English, to the Front office who speaks -Philippino- English, involved a (Croation ???) Electrician, not even to think about houseleeping and front desk supervisors who might speak other forms of English again.  So they were all beeping each other and delegating from one department to another. Luckily my (retired) stripes still account for something and that kept the pressure up.I think that Ludmilla was able to “surf” on that momentum to find, and was given, an another player. The main thing is that for coming cruises, the DVD player works, if future guests would like to use it. I have done my good deed for the cruise.

Then we went to the library to see how the books were doing. Cunard maintains a very nice section of maritime books and I wanted to see if there was a new one that I did not know about. But no, all 75 were already in my collection. In time honored Cunard tradition all the seats in the library were taken up and mostly occupied by guests who were having their morning nap. There are also 6 internet stations there, who were mainly in use by younger guests (not asleep), with one gentleman working on 4 devices at the same time. (mobile phone, tablet, laptop and the library desk top) That will cost him a fair bit as the internet is not cheap with Cunard. ( $ 28,-  a day if bought by the day for emaiI, facebook and whats app , and $ 22,–if bought for the cruise for one device  = $ 264 for 12 days)   There are also packages for 4 devices and a premium package that includes streaming, voice calling and text but these are much more expensive. Depending on your repeater status you get some money off. We as platinum people received a discount of $ 80,–  The internet is on average very good, except at prime times (09.00 – 10.00 hrs and 15.00 to 17.00 hrs.) when the whole ship checks their email. Thus they still have to do something with the bandwith on board. Maybe they are doing that now as they were installing a new pod outside our cabin door today.

A new thing – fresh from the press – lesley got from her Travel ageant- is that on some cruises Cunard is offering what Holland America has been doing for a while,  a  “Have it All” package, whereby certain things, like the drinks package and the gratutities are included. Both are very expensive with Cunard and thus most guests pay them out of their onboard credit. Or with the gratuities, take them off (long lines at the pursers desk on the first day). So by following in the footsteps of HAL, Cunard will save the guests a lot of aggrevation  and discontent.

The shops sell duty free liquor and the prices are very good. Almost compatible with the English ferries going to the Continent. So we got 2 bottles of Bombay Bramble Gin which is a favourite of Lesley and very hard to get ashore in the UK.  We can pick it up on the day before the cruise ends. What happened to the days when the Duty Free was delivered to the cabins…………………

In the ship dance class was going on again, arts and crafts, shops were open, today they were plugging selected christmas gifts, and the rest of the public rooms were heaving. Everybody had to get out of the cabins for the cabin stewards to service and thus everybody was sitting all over the ship.

At noon time, the captain informed us that with keeping up the speed to 18-20 knots (15 knots required for the next morning) he would be able to arrive late evening in Lisbon to give us all a quiet night. And not having too much swell at the entrance, so he could get in. With the caveat that when he made the turn into estuary of the Tagus river, we all had to sit down as the ship might make some un-expected moves. The ship had to turn through the wind, which might cause the ship to list and then would get the swell on the stern  when sailing into the estuary entrance. That swell angle can  make the ship yawn (“lurch” in land lubber language) He would come back 15 minutes before he was going to make the manuver so we all could be ready.

The grill area by day time.

We like to have lunch in the Queens Grill and the service is very good; but afterwards I have to make an expedition to the Lido restaurant  for a soft ice cream. Most British company’s have soft ice, self serve machines, where you can fill your bowl or cornet to your hearts content, without the “expert interference” of a cook.  It is not good for weight control but Cunard does have the best soft ice on the seven seas. (When compared to Celebrity, Saga, P&O and Azamara) My own beloved company HAL does not even come close as they have frozen yoghert and the machines are quite often not adjusted properly.  Their saving grace is that they have a lot more condiments and sides, than Cunard, a lot of variations you can use to “top up” your ice cream to a real lunch time delight.

Part of the Commodore Club by day time. It is designed to give an Gentleman’s —- ships captains— club feeling with dark woods and ships models at the entrance.

For pre dinner drinks we like to go to the Commodore Club on Deck 10 forward. Last night and this evening it was not overly busy, no doubt courtesy of the moving ship. This is my favourite crowsnest as it is stylish and the service is efficient. Here Cunard has made an improvement. Since the 1990’s (and maybe even before) nibbles (peanuts and crips) were always “on request”. Now they come standard with the drinks; saves us having to remember to ask for it and saves the steward an extra journey to get the bowls when we forgot.

The Commodore Club by night. The grey hair and spectacles gentleman, seen above the railing is one of the two Resident Piano players who play during cocktail hours and also later on in the evening. This gentleman ran a sort of small quiz while playing. Tonight all his tunes had “flower” titles, or another common denominator. After 4 songs the question then was, what linked all four songs played.

While happily enjoying dinner in the Queens Grill, the Captain did come on the tannoy shortly after 20.00 hrs. with the urgent request to remain seated.  Now in Captains language, an “urgent” request is different than an “order”, so I knew it was not going to be that bad. And indeed, we only made one roll of about 3 degrees and had a few “bumps in the stern” and then we were inside. By 20.45 we sailed passed Belem Tower and picked up the pilot at 21.00 hrs.. Then sailed to the berth at Alcantara, swung around and were docked by 22.00 hrs. Giving all the guests and crew (and especially those guests and crew who had their cabins near the bow) a quiet and peaceful night.  Some crew experienced floodings on the lower decks, broken pipes, no doubt due to the movement of the ship, but it was all clean water. But that is life on a cruise ship that is 20 years old, the pipework becomes challenging.

We decided not to go to the show, a Flamenco show, but called it a day. Tomorrow we are not planning to go ashore but to have a good look at the inside of the ship. The weather in Lisbon should be nice, especially later in the day. A bit of rain in the morning, followed by sun shine in the afternoon and temperatures around 14 – 16oC / 57 – 61oF.

 

 

Day 0, 2025 Dec. 16: Southampton. Joining the Queen Victoria.

December 17, 2025 / / 6 Comments

My Lord and Master had decided in her infinite wisdom that we were going away for Christmas on a cruise. A combined Christmas and New Years cruise was not possible as we had also booked New Year (3 nights) at our favourite hotel where we have been going for 7 years now, and if we would cancel we cannot get another booking (at least not in the same large room) as the hotel is very popular. It is the only New Years Hotel far and wide that insists on Black Tie for New Years Eve and does not allow bookings for just one evening. Thus you get a sort of community and atmosphere that is “all in the same boat” for 3 days.

The ms Queen Victoria, sister to the ms Queen Elizabeth. They are an enlarged Vista Class of Holland America, what HAL calls the Signature Class. But with the Queens & Princess Grills diningrooms up top, instead of just one restaurant, the lay-out is considerably different.

The number of ships sailing from the UK and who do a Christmas-only cruise is very limited and thus the decision was that we were going on the Queen Victoria. Not directly our favourite choice since the double – not so good–  experience on the Queen Anne (see the write ups on this website). However the Queen Victoria has a nice lay-out and as an enlarged Holland America Vista/Signatuture Class ship it is some what smaller (2000 guests) then the Queen Anne (HAL Pinnacle Class but with 500 extra guests). To add to the festive feeling it was decided that we would travel in the Queens Grill and we booked a Penthouse (Q3) which is in the center of the ship. With a cruise going to the Canaries it is not directly a good a idea to have a cabin in the bow or the stern, even while we are better sailors than most of the guests on board. 40 years of wobbly weather training never leaves you. It is the same like swimming or bicycling, the routines always remain with you.

As the trains in england are highly un-reliable to travel if you need to be somewhere on time, we drove down to Southampton the day before. We had an arrangement with the Hilton hotel for a “cruise arrangement”. Stay overnight and then have parking rights for the 12 night cruise. Cost is about 5 pounds a night for the parking and the whole arrangement includes a taxi to and from the ship.

I have stayed a lot in Hilton hotels during my sailing life and I always found the service very good with nice rooms. So we were surpised that the rooms in this Hilton do not have small fridges. We got 2 bottles of still water but they were warm from standing in a warm room for one or more days. Why NO in England ?, but YES in the USA and YES in the Netherlands?  Why will remain most likely a mystery forever. It is even stranger if one takes into account that Hilton Garden Inn, that is one step down from regular Hilton, do have them………………….. The dinner in the in-house restaurant was good and to my delight they had a least 4 different craft beers on tap, so that made the evening.

Thus the next morning we were picked up by the taxi at the arranged time and driven to the ship. Cunard has a priority check inn, for Queens and Princess Grill and Diamond & Platinum level repeaters. It is just that the separation line stops just outside the terminal entrance. Thus if a long line is forming (and it always does, before they open the doors at 11.00) you have to push yourself forward to get to the “priority  ‘line”.  So we did.

A local brass band playing in the Atrium bringing everybody in the Christmas mood. Note the nice Christmas decorations. Cunard is one of the best in the industry for this.

Either Cunard is the most suspicious company there is, or very focussed on support, but our booking paper was checked 6 times before we made it to the jet walkway; and then scanned when coming on board. Boarding started at 11.30 and being first, it went very smooth. Then you are told to go to your muster station first, before you can go to your cabin. (Top cabins were already done, the rest of the cabins by 13.00 hrs.) For us that worked out fine as our station C, is aft of the atrium and so we took the stern lifts to deck 6 and then walked forward. On embarkation day the midships staircases are full with those coming on board and totally focused on doing that. There are bell boys and lift operators to help but it is still chaotic. It seems to only the very experienced cruisers walk forward or aft and take those lifts which are hardly used at all on boarding day.

Cunard staff were standing at the entrance with baskets of chocolate sweets to hand out. A very nice guesture but hardly functional if you are pulling a trolley, still holding your embarkation papers and carrying a coat or a holdall. So guests stopped right in the entrance, to put their papers away, dropped their trolley and then peering with bi focal or tri focal lenses, scrutinized what was on offer and then to pick one or two or three, put away in the pocket and picked up the trolley again. This all to the annoyance of security who tried to get people away from the gangway. With our first flow it was not much of a problem but when the rest of general boarding started it was quite interesting to observe. This was all accompanied by a 4 piece brass band playing in the Atrium with jazzy type of Christmas music. Luckily the atrium is 3 stories high and thus the very loud sound dispersed nicely up into the ship. They were relieved by the in house guitar player and hence there was music during most of the embarkation period,.

A local gospel chair performing in the Queens Lounge. A pity it was such a short performance as they were really good.

Then it was time to go for lunch and get our table assignment for the duration of the cruise. When coming back to the cabin, the first 2 suitcases where there and the Lady Butler Ludmila and Mark the Cabin steward arrived. The cabin includes free drinks, replaced every day, when empty. ….  Then the cabin steward found the 3rd suitcase, so we could unpack everything. This Penthouse sized cabin (Q3) has a walk-in wardrobe with enough storage space for a month or longer. (and then there are 2 more secret drawers under the bed, which on most ships are full with the spare linens of the cabin steward, but not here) So far we are very impressed with both of them, with the professionalism displayed. Lesley then went for the 15.00 hrs. Gospel singing by a choir from the shore side with a performance at 14.00 hrs. and 15.00 hrs. They were very good but only sang for 20 minutes. I do not really understand why Cunard does not try to make it a bit longer, as these groups must be used to 45 minutes sets like all entertainers. We had the same on the Queen Anne maiden voyage when an Invictus – military band played for 15 minutes and then never to be seen again. The mind somewhat boggles.

Cunard, welcome on board for the first night. Real champagne, chocolates and canape’s. 

With the cabin comes a bottle of champagne (real champage, not sprankling wine) as  a welcome on board greeting and then also daily canape’s. In the meantime there was the boatdrill announcements by the captain and then a sailaway message with the obligatory “wash your hands” part. What was new, and I think very good, was that the Captain was requesting guests not to pile into the lifts with too many people, as standing close together is a very good way of passing a flu bug on. Hopefully they will all remember, we certainly will, although we have planned not to use lifts at all this cruise. With making soo many cruises in a bi-monthly cycle, evidence of doing so is growing considerably around the middle;  and we still have a significant number of them to nake in the coming in the future. So daily staircase exercise it will be.

The champagne and camapes served as cocktails in the cabin and this was followed by a very nice dinner in the Queens Grill. Compared to the Queen Anne service was much better, not rushed and with attention to detail, and the head waiters had time to come around for  a little courtesy chat, which is always appreciated. Apart from showing that the crew is friendly it is also an excellent way to find out what is going on and to stop a “challenge” from becoming a “problem”.  The Grills have open sitting and by going in at 19.45 there is ample time to make the 21.45 2nd show. That was a revue show  “Be our Guest” and it was very good. Cunard has not yet entered the stage of LED background lighting yet, so they still had to use some (marginal) props but it came with a 7 piece live orchestra and that is something you do not see very often anymore on the ships.

On departure the Captain had warned that it was going to be a wobbly night with another depression rolling in from the Atlantic. When I checked yesterday it looked like that we could sail southbound away from the area and would have reasonably good weather. (Lets say no more than 5 meter waves). But the ships sailing 1 to 3 days after us are going to have great fun with 30 feet waves rolling into the Channel.  Not nice for Christmas. We will see tomorrow if the weather is following the forecast. One thing is sure, it will be raining all day.

 

2025 October 21; Oban and final Verdict.

October 24, 2025 / / 9 Comments

The anchor was pulled up around 07.30 this morning and half an hour later we were docked at the ferry terminal where our cruise started from 7 days ago. Breakfast was at 07.45 (with doors opening earlier) so by 08.30 I could hop in the (complimentary) taxi to go to the (complimentary) covered garage to retrieve the car. I had to be first as my car was partly blocking the driving out of the other cars. Luckily the garage owner had removed a few obstacles so the path-width for the other cars so had become wider. In the mean time the ships staff were carrying the suitcases from our cabins to the shoreside.

Those who came by train (Glasgow train station) or plane (Glasgow airport) were loaded on the (complimentary) bus/coach. It was nice to see that Captain and Chief Purser where actively involved in helping with the suitcases and were personally saying goodbye to everybody. (not just a line up at the gangway but actively at the coach door (and luggage hatch) and around the individual cars.

By 0900 hrs. we were loaded and on our way. Day started all rainy but by 09.30 the sun came out and we had a good drive home. Same as going northbound, in two stages, with an overnight in between. It is an approx. 10 hrs. drive on the British roads between Oban and Cromer and that is something one does not want to do in one day.

So what is the overall verdict on this cruise?

Well as you will have read in the all the posts of this week:

The Hebridean Princess is a floating English (Scottish) Country House with a service that goes with it.  I would rate it 6 star but it is difficult to do so as there is really no comparison to any other cruise line. It is a totally unique product. With a crew ratio of 38 crew to 48 passengers, its service is beyond par. Above and beyond of what one can expect. A sort of throwback to what many company’s delivered in the 1970’s and 80’s when first class still existed.

The dining room has plate service (= 5 star) but the way the food is presented and the dishes piping hot, makes  it 6 star. Twice this cruise we had a (seafood) buffet, small, but again all of top quality and presentation.

ALL food & beverages are included, including the expensive ones. Champagne (the real stuff, Taittlinger, no sparkling wine) is available all day and so is the rest. The whisky’s of the distillery’s that we visited during the cruise were also on board and also included. The longest time I clocked between asking for a drink and getting it, was 5 minutes (and that was only because they had to get  a fresh bottle of something or the other out of the stock room).

The Glare Factor:  100%. Not a single crewmember who failed to acknowledge us when seeing us during work, or when outside their direct work setting.

If I would have to compare this ship /company with similar -starred- companies we have sailed with so far:  Cunard (Queens Grill), Silver Seas, Azamara, then the Hebridean Princess beats them all. 

Note: Azamara Onward, came fairly close second as she also had the 100% glare factor but has less crew so it took longer to get your drinks & food, and their tender service failed on occasion.

Things to be noted:

The cabins are all very well apointed (6 star) but vary greatly in size (from 4′.6 standard bed to a 6′ wide Kings size) so be careful when selecting your cabins. Same for the showers as they can be large or quite small. There are single cabins as well.

There is no A.C on board but only forced cooled air. For our cruise (average outside temperature of 120C / 54oF) it was more than enough (even while being in the dungeon) but it might be somewhat challenging during high summer as Scotland now also gets heatwaves. Especially on Hebridean Deck (that is dungeon level) where the cabins have no portholes.

When booking you can request a table for 2,3,4 or6/8. Depending on the number of requests for a table of 6/8, they increase the number of those larger tables. For this cruise 3 large ones were set up. If everybody wants a table for 2, then the large tables are broken up. We suggest that you request a table for 6/8 (depending on what size they offer) for several reasons:

  1. The guests are in general well educated, talkative and well informed. So the table conversation is richly flowing. You remain at the same table for the duration of the cruise and as we sat in a different chair each time we had the chance to have good a conversation with everybody.
  2.  If there are large tables, then an officer (Captain, Chief Purser, Naturalist on formals and other officers on informals) will host. It brings an extra dimension to the conversation.

Formal night is formal night. The ships management will not officially enforce it but you do not want to stand out. The ship and clientele sort of calls for it.  All your fellow guests are  dressed formally and so are the officers who dine  with you. (all in kilt).

One ONLY comment to make for improvement: The Bathrobes in all the cabins are too small, even for standard size people like us.  And that is for 6 star not really acceptable. We have put that as our only negative in our comments forms as we see no reason when we pay 6 star prices, that we have to lug our own bathrobes with us. Hopefully Hebridean Cruises will follow up on that.

We mentioned it on board, and the answer was: we have NO space.

This is nonsense, if they have space to stock 7 days of linen change and all our suitcases (*) then there must be room for a few extra XL or XXL bathrooms. And if not in the linen store, then there is more than enough space on the former car deck to add an A60 fire rated locker for them.

(*) You can have your bed linen changed each day as per company policy, but most guests are happy with 2 or 3 times a cruise and leave a (provided) card on the bed to notify the stewardess,.

We really enjoyed our cruise and we might be back in 2028 when we have space in our cruise schedule bookings. It will depend somewhat on  the ports visited. We found this mystery cruise a little bit too much tilted to nature. One castle in the mix (of only nature and whisky) would have made it perfect.

Our next cruise is the Christmas Cruise on the Queen Victoria in a Penthouse grade cabin. I do not expect that they will beat Hebridean Princess but it will be interesting to see how close they will get. According to recent reports, the service in the Queens Grill has been dumbed down (seems to have started after Covid) but we go with an open mind.

I hope you  will follow us on that cruise as well.

 

2025 Oct. 20; Inverrie to Kingairloch to Oban, Scotland.

October 21, 2025 / / 8 Comments

Today was sightseeing most of the day. Ending up in Kingarloch at 14.00 hrs. until 17.00 hrs and  then a quick joint down Loch Linnhe to the anchorage in Oban. (On the map just under the words Google Maps)

This morning around 07.00 hrs. the ship picked up anchor and sailed south along the magnificent Scottish coast line, dipped in and out Loch Sunartin, went through the Sound of Mull up into Loch Linnhe and into “Loch a Choire” for an afternoon call.

Strontian is an area of outstanding beauty as much of the Highlands are and worthwhile a visit. Certainly on a day as to day with sunshine and no rain. (Photo: unknown source on the internet)

As usual there was wildlife galore, with a very happy naturalist Bryan, as he saw a Minkey Whale that did not directly dive so all wild life lovers had their day already made. Then there was the small diversion into Loch Sunartin which is very scenic. The local claim to fame here is being the “town of Strontium”; real name Strontian and located up the hills just a bit away from the loch. The mineral (on the Perodic Table) named Strontium was discovered here, when people were delving for lead. A village was then built to house the miners needed and this villlage was called Strontian.  It is the only village in the British Isles to have an element named after it. The place is still inhabited with a village store and a school with 30 pupils.

The Glennsanda Super Quary as seen from the water.

Then we went to the Sound of Mull, which is a semi narrow waterway (not that narrow as in “tight”) as I went through it with a 33.000 tons cruise ship) and then one ends up in Loch Linnhe. If one continues straight on, one comes to Oban but if one turns to the North then one can end up in Fort William.  As we did not want to go to Oban yet, we turned to the North and followed to the coast line to “Loch a Choire”, which is a small inlet / fjord on the North shore of Loch Linnhe. While saiing towards it we came by a real blot on the landscape: Europe’s largest aggregate mine at Glennsands. It has been in operation for a long time and its product is a major export item for Scotland. There is still a billion tons of (mainly basalt) aggregate that can be mined so the mine is expected to be there for a fore-seeable time.

Kingairloch bay as seen on a Map by the Government of Scotland. As one can see the fish farm takes up a lot of space in the entrance. But it is a protected bay from any winds but the Easterlies and thus an excellent place for such a venture.

Then the ship made a 90o turn to port and slipped into “Loch a Choire” (there are 5 locations with the same name  in Scotland) and when going in the Captain had to hug the southern shore as in the middle of the waters is an enourmous salmon fish farm. Operated by Norwegians when looking at the flags of the support ships. But a bit deeper in the bay, there was ample space, so the good ship Hebridean Princess dropped the anchor and by 14.30 hrs. the guests started their invasion of the Kingairloch Estate. As many Estates in Scotland nowadays, the land is not longer owned by people of Scottish descend but by foreigners. This Estate is no different, being owned by a couple from Belgium. Luckily  they take their responsibilities seriously and they are busy with restoring parts of the Estate such as boundary walls.

This is one of the 2 little tender boats (stowed on the bow when not in use) that ferry the guests ashore. Each can take 10 and thus all guests can be ashore in a total of 4 runs., or about 20 minutes.

What else is there to do? Well one can climb up the mountain and then slide down the mountain again. Walk around the Estate and oggle at the Main House (from a distance as it is occupied) and there is a small church somewhere up the hill. Another call for nature lovers as there was a lof of deer around. I had hoped for a Castle today, as we had done birds (St. Kilda), Raasay (distilerry and nature),  Stornoway (history and shopping), Gairloch (nature), Inverrie (nature and pub), so basically all that was missing was a Castle. But no such luck, today it was more nature.

The Captain conducting the bridge tour. On this ship it is always done by the Captain and, contrary to many main stream cruise companies, it is free of charge.

This morning while in Loch Linhe we had a bridge tour, where the Captain explained how all the old stuff from 1964 worked (original engines, steering wheel and engine telegraphs) and all the modern additional equipment, such as Radars with chart overlay. Course plotters, auto pilots and a plenthora of communication equipment.

The original 1964 steering wheel. It has been modified (front side} so it is now also connected to a modern autopilot.

For me it was like going back to 1981 – 1986 when sailing on the steamships ss Statendam (IV) and ss Rotterdam (V) where everything was also done via the ships telegraphs with the engine room. Here the communication is with a engineer who locally operates the diesel engines with only a response delay of 3 or 4 seconds. In my early days, with steam, it could take up to 2 minutes before the requested  steam pressure/ revolutions were there as promised.

The original telegraphs are still in use. With the signal going down to the E.R where it is acknowlegd by an engineer before he then adjusts the speed/revolutions  as requested. The two boxes here on the bridge wing, contain the bow thruster handle, the rudder handle and the speed and wind indication.

The bridge tour lasted a good hour as Captain Heaton is very enthousiastic and also very proud of his little ship. He is now in his 24th. year of sailing on it. Once the “mere amateurs”  had departed I had a chance to discuss with him what of the all stuff was still good (everything) what of the new stuff was good (not much, but compulsory) and the intricasies of handling a ship like the Hebredian Princess. I already had had an (rather alcoholic) session with him in  the lounge late evening during the first formal night. Here we had put the world to right and discussed the reasons why we both did not work in an office.  He is now 30+ years at sea, while I have clocled 42 years, but if his enthouisiam indicates anything, he will get to the 40 years without much of a challenge.

This evening we had our last formal night, with the traditional presentation of the Haggis, which was spoken to (By reciting Robert Burns famous poem) by the Captain in his best scottish.  The Captain had dropped the hook around 1800 hrs. in Oban bay, so we could have a quiet formal dinner and night.  Tommorrow morning we will shift from the anchorage to the dock around 08.00 hrs. and then disembarkation starts around 08.30. I have first to collect my car, load the luggage, and then drive 5 hrs. to Newcastle for an overnight followed by the next day with another 5 hrs. to get home.

Weather for tomorrow, rain, totally overcast with temperatures around 09oC / 48oF. It looks like it that Autumn is finally coming to Scotland.

As usual the final blog with the verdict will come in a few days, when I am home and have arranged my thoughts.

 

2025 Oct. 19; Gairloch to Shieldaig to Inverie.

October 20, 2025 / / 1 Comment

Today was a day of sightseeing with 2 ports thrown in, after a night at anchor.

We left Gairloch at 18.00 hrs. and dropped the anchor an hour later at a place called Applecross. The Captain did not announce why we left, we could have stayed overnight here but I assume the local ferry was coming in and the Hebridean Princess had to leave.  Not that anybody cared, it was all about……….. where do we go next……….. The old man popped up at 19.25 hrs. last night after dropping the hook and he was rather vague about what he was going to do today. Apart this being a mystery cruise, it is also the weather that is very changeable at the moment,  so it is better to keep some options on the back burner.

The angle of the wind was in the end not such that “ruffled” the waves very much. The storm was mainly felt in open waters. We  had a windforce 5 to 7 for awile but as the wind has not been blowing for very long yet, there was no swell, so in the end we were hardly affected apart from a “wee bit of rain”.

So we  were advised that we would pick up the hook around 08,00 hrs. and then sail to Shieldaig in Loch Torridon (after which our cabin is named). The ship dropped anchor there and  by 09.30 hrs. guests could go ashore for walking. Shieldaig  is a small town with 50 houses and some hotels for the holiday season. As pubs normally do not open before 11.00 hrs. we decided to stay on board. Her ladyship watching a murder movie and me uploading yesterdays blog.

With 50 odd houses, Shieldaig is a real metroplis compared to some of the villages we see dotted along the coast.( Photo courtesy, somebody with a drone)

It was all on board by 11.30 to go south and go under the Skye Bridge. Which is a big thing as the birdge is known worldwide because of the Scots complaining bitterly about the toll costs. The Dutch do the same and I fully agree, because Toll Roads  do not support the local community. They only give an excuse for a politician (There will be no extra tax, as the bridge will pay for itself)  and for the rest they rake in money from the locals, far more than what the bridge cost to contruct, and that money is then used for projects somewhere else that have nothing to do with the local community who paid the tolls.  In a nutshell, here is the story.

The Skye Bridge,connects the Isle of Skye to the Scottish Mainland. The bridge has been designed in such a way that all the ferries, including our Hebridean Princess fit under it.  (Photo courtesy: internet google)

The Isle of Skye is a major island with a lot of people who need to or want to travel. The little ferry could not cope with getting all the cars across in a timely manner. So it was decided to build a bridge. A bridge that would pay for itself. When the bridge was finished in 1995, the locals quickly found out that they had the highest tolls to pay in the world. for the lenght of the bridge. The plan was for a 40 pence toll but then it went up to 11.40 pounds. This made the Scotts lament that this was Europe’s most expensive bridge. (This was before Brexit, so they could legally say so).  The Scotts affected got together and due to this pressure the tolls were abandoned in December 2004.  Complainers alledge that the tolls raked in around  £33 million from tolls, dwarfing the bridge’s building costs pegged at £3.5 million. There are still lawsuits going on, from those who paid the tolls in this period, saying that it was way too high as the Government made a profit, instead of cutting it off, once the bridge had been paid for.

The mv Hebridean Princess at anchor in Loch Nevis.

From there we sailed passed Armadale (famous for Armadale Castle) but did not stop there as the anchorage was fully exposed to wind and sea.  Instead we sailed passed the town of Mallaig into Loch Nevis and dropped anchor outside “The Old Forge” in an area/ town called Inverie on the Knoydart peninsula.  This is mainly  a pub and it is called the “the remotest pub” on the British Mainland. They claim this title as there is no road leading there. All cars have to come and go by ferry and only hikers can descend from the higher mainland down to the shore. Still quite a few people live here, but – unless they walk a long way- they are reliant on the ferry service. The ferry calls in the summer time twice a day and once during the winter months, all of course weather depending. That ferry then takes everybody to another “Tarbert” in the mainland where there is a good road connection. The dock was too shallow for the Hebridean Princess and thus we were ferried in by the two little tenders that are carried on board. As they are half exposed/open, there is always the danger that you can be tipped out if the tender hits an un-expected wave and thus we have the ritual each time of donning an inflatable lifevest.  Once ashore the ship has a collection area where you leave it until you return.

The Old Forge, which I assume in the grey mists of time once was a Blacksmiths Forge before it became a pub.

There are options galore here to go sightseeing and walking with a few historic locations nearby but most of the guests on board went for the pub. This is a community Pub, run by volunteers as the commercial version could not survive. Now a local pub such as the “Old Forge”  always has my blessing as it is normally the heart of the local community and thus should be carefully nurtured. 2nd thing is, Community run pubs are normally Free Houses. E.G free of a commercial brewery chain and thus it can sell any beers it likes.  And yes, I was not disappointed, 7 different craft beers were available so I was in heaven. My choice went this time to a national Scottish beer, (a bit like a light Guiness and although they call it “heavy”), the McEwan draft is more like  dark ale.  For the pub it was a hey-day with suddenly another 35 or so customers popping up. The costs of the drinks were once again picked up by the company so all was well in the world. We stopped here from 16.00 hrs. to 18.45 hrs. just enough time to stretch our legs and have a pint and then the ship sailed for the nights anchorage.

The inside of the Pub. Rebuilt by volunteers and ran by volunteers. All the locals who were involved have been immortalised with their names engraved in the wooden bar face and I suppose honoring the best customers) in the bar seats.

This afternoon beer did not detain all the guests from being in the main lounge (it is called the Tiree lounge, after the Isle of Tiree) to be ready by 19.00.hrs. for cocktails and good conversation. We have no music, and none is needed as everybody is busy enough with talking to each other. Where you sit in the lounge depends on when you come in and where there is a space left. Most of our guests are British but from various area’s, such as the middle of England, but also from the Isle of Man, island of Guernsey. Then there are a few  Scots who have a home holiday. And they include a couple from Portree, a town in the area we are sailing in. Yesterday they could even see their town while we sailed into the Loch opposite. Then we have one Canadian from Montreal, one American from Colorado (the two are mother and daugther) and then there is one Dutchman………………

At 19.30 the captain showed up again and announced that tomorrow will be sightseeing through some small fjords, with a stop in the late afternoon. From there it was down to dinner, and tonight we had the Staff Captain at our table, which before he came to work here was working for Princess Cruises, which was between 2006 and 2022 part of the “Holland America Group” within Carnival. As you can see, it is a small world.

Weather for tomorrow: Overcast with a chance of showers and temperatures around 10oC / 50oF, so everybody is happy that the weather is holding.

 

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